OK. But whether those signing ultimately prove prescient, they were, regardless, frugal deals, considered splashes in these parts only because the Padres generally don’t spend money.

Make no mistake, players do care about the product on the field. They say they’ll play with whoever, and to some extent it is true. But I’ve been around too many times when a beaming player expounded on how good it felt that his team signed an elite free agent in the off-season or made that deadline trade.

“Everyone wants someone committed to winning,” said closer Huston Street, who has played with three teams. “You see that in signings -- or not.”

Said Jason Marquis, who is with his sixth team: "When a team commits money to players and brings in players, that's always a sign they're going to be all in.”

And Kotsay said: “You want them actually engaged -- to know they're behind you and giving you the best opportunity to succeed.”

The players are not saying Moores was not engaged. But I will.

I haven’t talked to the man in more than 10 years, and there weren’t many words, at that. The only evidence I need is his lack of investment, a team that has the lowest payroll in baseball and has been in the bottom four for four straight years.

Last week, I spoke to someone who used to work for the O’Malleys and remains familiar with their thinking. He noted the Dodgers were never the highest-spending team under Peter O’Malley and, in fact, were middle of the pack.

“They’ll make sure they bring that same approach to the Padres,” said Bob Graziano, who worked for the Dodgers for 18 years, the final seven as president. “You don’t have to spend $200 million to field a competitive team. You don’t want to spend $45 or $50 million, whatever the Padres are spending. You spend somewhere in between.”